By Madie Chandler | FeverBasketball.com

Simplicity has become an unexpected key word for the Indiana Fever, who continue to simplify everything about their approach to basketball after losing multiple players to injuries. The playbook is minimized; defensive schemes stripped down to accommodate new personnel. Indiana simply isn’t the same team that it was to open the WNBA season, but the Fever fight on.

With simplicity comes clarity – something the Fever embrace as they navigate the final six games of a tumultuous season.

Indiana needed a win on Tuesday, that was crystal clear. The Seattle Storm were just a half-game ahead of the Fever in the standings entering Tuesday’s matchup, and Indiana was just a full game ahead of ninth place. The top eight teams advance to the postseason.

Needless to say, the stakes were enormous.

“No doubt, I think every game is like a playoff game at this point,” coach Stephanie White said pregame. “But it is one game at a time, and Seattle is the most important opponent for us…We can’t get caught watching standings. We can’t get caught looking too far ahead. It’s got to be right now and Seattle and making sure that we’re the best that we can be today.”

Simple – one game at a time. One win at a time. One step closer to the playoffs.

Indiana’s attack dismantled the WNBA’s third-best defense as the Fever put 95 points on the Storm en route to a critical win in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, 95-75. A trio of 20-point scorers powered the Fever to victory – Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, and Odyssey Sims.

It took Sims all of five seconds to record a basket for Indiana after collecting the opening tip, but she didn’t stop there. She recorded seven points in the first quarter as she willed the Fever offense into a rhythm. Sims even banked in a 3-pointer from 35 feet as the shot clock expired to put Indiana up by 30 points halfway through the fourth quarter.

“We [were] having a great night, just collectively,” Sims said. “Not just myself, but my team included…We’re continuing to get better on the defensive end, continuing to gel on offense…the togetherness that we [had] offensively and defensively, as a group, really showed our growth.”

Mitchell had a stellar first quarter too – she notched 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting in the opening frame. She finished with 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting, including a 50 percent night from long range.

As Mitchell and Sims found a groove, opportunities opened up for Boston. She had four rebounds in the first quarter, but scored just three points. Her offense took off in the second, scoring eight points, and continued reliably in the third quarter as she tallied 10 more points. Boston finished the night with a game-high 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

“AB has been the one that’s been most affected by all of our injuries,” White said. “You know, all of the point guards that know how to get her the ball…and it’s not just getting her the ball, it’s where you get it to her.

“…I thought today, her aggressiveness with the ball in her hands, to the rim, getting into defenders, playing low-to-high instead of high-to-low, when she plays like that, there’s nobody that can stop her.”

Mitchell and Boston’s performances earned them both honors in the Fever’s franchise record book. Boston’s nine rebounds helped her to become the fastest player in franchise history to reach 1,000 career rebounds, and Mitchell set a new single season record for scoring – 787 points and counting.

A powerful punch of offense took Indiana the distance on Tuesday, but according to the locker room, the defensive side of the ball won the game.

“It started really with our defense, though,” White began. “Our attention to detail was better…Our activity level was really good. Our ability to finish plays, not give them multiple opportunities, was really good, and that allowed us to get out in transition. And when we get out in transition and get some easy buckets, it gets us confidence.”

Indiana looks to take that same simplified approach and confidence into Los Angeles on Friday as the Fever seek another critical win in the playoff race. The Fever sit in sixth place in the standings following a big win over Seattle, but continue to climb the ladder as they attempt to chase down a playoff spot.

“Right now, we’re just going to be focused on LA,” Boston said. “That’s kind of been our motto this entire season, just focus on the game ahead of you. Be where your feet are. And so starting tomorrow, we’re going to be looking at LA…we’ve got to take it one game at a time.”